Why the hatred? I get many people think the religious are crazy. I get that a lot of harm came out of religion. I am not going to blow smoke up your butt and say that religion is totally guiltless.
I do want to know why many people hate ALL religion and look down on the religious?
I can give many instances where religion is an OK thing or neutral (not good or bad).
Personally I am agnostic. I did however get exposed to religion most if not all of my life. I went to a private school in elementary. That was an OK experience. They taught me morals (IE be nice to people, help the less fortunate). I know some religious people and a good share of them are good people. I have been going to a certain church's trunk or treat for three straight years. I am always treated with respect when I am there. I dress up and hand out candy to all the kids. Just because I am not religious don't mean I am going to hate all religion and look down on the religious.
I can also list off times where religion has caused harm. I can sit here for a long time and tell you story upon story about the times I witnessed and even experienced harm in the name of religion. I can name off wars that were started due to religion. I can tell you about the times people are hateful towards the LGBT because of religion.
Religion is a double edge sword. It has good parts to it and bad parts. Unfortunately religion has the potential of being very harmful to the point it can kill people.
Let's not fight ALL religion but just the times where it is harmful. If it is a positive thing in someone's life just leave them to it. An example is if a church group goes to a soup kitchen. You can help them with that or you can just leave them to do their thing.
I think that most people, wether religious or not, do not understand the myth and the metaphor with in the religions. Joseph Chamble is someone who’s teachings should be in every college. Although that is just an opinion of mine.
If we got rid of all of the Atheists, we would lose 93% of the Academy of Science, and .2% of the prison population.
I disagree that religion has any good parts. The argument that religion brings joy to people's lives, therefore, it shouldn't be condemned is in itself flawed. So does porn and heroin.
The message of messianic religions is the same as an abusive spouse. If a significant other said this to you: "You are nothing without me. You must love me, like it or not. Otherwise, I will torture you for the rest of your existence. You'll do exactly as I say, or I'll make you sorry.
In fact, Richard Dawkins has gone so far as to say that religious indoctrination is child abuse. I would agree with that sentiment. Say this to a child. "If you misbehave, god will take you to hell, and burn and torture you.
In fact, religion can be compared to Stockholm syndrome. When you are born into it, groomed by it, loved by it, hated by it, praised by it, scolded by it, welcomed by it, cast out by it, forgiven by it, saved by it, degraded by it, uplifted by it, validated by it, justified by it, taught by it, blinded by it, and indoctrinated by it, the lines between imprisonment and autonomy, between captivity and salvation, between freedom and slavery, become blurred and warped to the point where you revere your own bondage. (Atheist Meme)
Religion teaches people not to believe in their own abilities, but to believe that a probably non-existent supernatural sadist is in control of your life. Philippians 4:13 says "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" No we can do all things because we are resilient people with talents and drive who need to take credit for our own accomplishments.
Religion has diminished the human condition by taking away our understanding of how we as people understand and experience our own existence and our own lives. Religion was created by man for the purpose of controlling populations of people. It was a way to institute laws that the leaders wanted to be enacted. What better way to justify some pretty horrible shit than saying that the Sky Daddy whom no one can see yet talks to only a select few, says so.
Nevermind the fact that a good number of people who claim that god talks to them, the founder and "prophets" of the Abrahamic religions, all lived before Schizophrenia was a diagnosed medical condition. So, people follow the ramblings of 3,500-year-old, dead, schizophrenic goat herders who had absolutely no concept of Science, and just made shit up to explain the natural world. How is this a good thing?
Faith leaders like to pronounce that atheists hate Christians and want to destroy their “Christian ways” but it’s not really like that. In my experience, most atheists/agnostics don’t hate religion or religious people. Those people who express animosity toward religion are often those who were personally harmed by religion - abused or ostracized or forced to think and act in ways that felt wrong to them.
No one opposes the charitable acts of religious groups. Many oppose and are frustrated or angered by the hatred and judgment that people justify with religion, acts of violence done in the name of religion. Personally I am frustrated and a bit afraid of the willful ignorance that often goes hand-in-hand with religion - such as science deniers and the dismissal of facts and evidence that conflict with their faith..
Because religion is unreasonable. Anyone who believes a religion are making assumptions, not because they actually know anything. There is a difference between knowing and making an assumption which some people don't seem to understand or are just dishonest whenever they say that they know there is a god, yet they do nothing to back up that claim.
Religion is just really dishonest and childish.
Some religions can be beneficial because of moral teachings, yes. But religions are not necessary for gaining moral insights. I think all religions require blind adherence to a particular dogma, and to me, that is not beneficial- it's not living in reality.